Stereotypes of Asian American Students -- a very good essay on common stereotypes of Asian American students, and their damaging consequences -- includes good information about Asian American students' experiences in U.S. schools.

Why Are the Asian-American Kids Silent in Class? -- an article by a Japanese American writing teacher and teacher educator who discusses the cultural history and other factors that may contribute to some Asian American students not participating easily in class discussions -- includes a list of good recommendations for teachers.

Hmong Home Page -- an excellent site about Hmong culture and issues relevant to working with Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese American students and families -- lots of valuable information and links to good websites.

Overview of Lao/Hmong Culture -- part of a book produced by the Center for Disease Control for doctors treating Hmong-Americans -- this section of the book provides information about Hmong culture that is very useful to educators.

Cultural Conflicts -- a section of a book about Hmong culture that details some of the ways in which Hmong Americans experience cultural conflict here in the U.S.

Hmong Cultural Tour -- a great website that presents and documents an incredibly wonderful school project done by a 4th/5th grade class in Madison, WI, in which they did an in-depth study of Hmong culture including visits to seven communities across Wisconsin with susbtantial Hmong communities. The students read and studied, visited community cultural centers, interviewed people they met, engaged in hands-on learning, and created a website presenting lots of useful information. Check it out!!

Cupping -- an article about this Asian medical practice, commonly used by traditional Southeast Asian cultural groups, is also sometimes referred to as coining or spooning, depending on the object used. The object is often heated then is rubbed against the skin to generate blood flow and related activity as an act of addressing certain ailments. This practice, which leaves the skin looking bruised, has sometimes been mistaken by teachers as a sign of abuse.

Hmong Music -- a brief description and discussion of Hmong music and its uses and purposes in Hmong culture, including links to online videos with performances and information.

Asians' Health Worsens after a Move to Western Countries -- an article -- "The longer a south Asian immigrant spends in a western country, the more likely he or she is to develop high blood pressure, a study finds. The research provides more evidence that the shift towards a western lifestyle is damaging to health."

Closing the Health Gap -- "an educational campaign designed to help make good health an important issue among racial and ethnic minority populations who are affected by serious diseases and health conditions at far greater rates than other Americans."

Coughing While Asian -- a good article about a SARS-related racism that stereotypes Asian Americans as more likely to be carriers of SARS.

Daughter From Danang -- a powerful documentary about a young U.S. woman who was born in Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and a U.S. serviceman father, and was sent to the U.S. for adoption at the end of the war. The film documents her life path and the culturally complex reuniting, as a young adult, with her Vietnamese mother and family.

DRUM (Desi's Rising Up and Moving) -- a community-based social justice organization of working class and poor South Asian immigrants and immigrant detainees and their families in New York City. Desi is a common term used by people of South Asian descent to identify as people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Guyana, and Trinidad. The group's mission is to organize low-income immigrant detainees and South Asian immigrant communities for racial justice, immigrant rights, and an end to detentions & deportations.

The Hmong Qeej -- one of the oldest harmonic instruments in the world, the Qeej is a bamboo and wooden mouth organ found throughout Eastern Asia -- it plays a central role in Hmong music and traditions.

Zhou, M. 1997. Growing Up American: The Challenge Confronting Immigrant Children and Children of Immigrants. Annual Review of Sociology, 23: 63-95.

Zhou, M. & Bankston, C. 1998. Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States. Russell Sage Foundation.

Zhou, M. and Bankston, C. 2000. Straddling Two Worlds: The Experience of Vietnamese Refugee Children in the United States. ERIC Urban Diversity Series -- ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Zia, H. 2000. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Films & Videos

Vietnamese Americans: The New Generation. 2003. Through candid interviews with first and second-generation Vietnamese Americans, this program documents the process of assimilation into American culture of refugees from the former Republic of Vietnam. Topics include stresses on the family unit caused by cultural and generational differences, gang membership and drug abuse among the young, anti-Vietnamese racial bias, and feelings about relations between the U.S. and Vietnam.

Daughter From Danang. 2002 -- award winning documentary about a Vietnamese American woman who was given up for adoption after the war in Vietnam, and as a young adult reunites with her Vietnamese mother and family.

My America: Or Honk If You Love Buddha. 1997. Voices and personalities of Asian Americans across the U.S.

Moving Mountains: Story of the Yiu Mien. 1990. About the cultural struggles of Laotian refugees living in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Slaying the Dragon: Images of Asian American Women in Film. 1988. An analysis of stereotypes about Asian women in U.S. film.